Child Support The Texas Family Code contains guidelines for the computation of child support. The guidelines as set forth in Chapter 154 of the Texas Family Code are intended to "guide" the court in determining an "equitable" amount of child support. The amount of support calculated according to the guidelines are presumed to be "reasonable" and "presumed to be in the best interest of the child." It is often understood, or perhaps more often misunderstood (typically by fathers), how to calculate child support payments. Many assume that whatever the family law guidelines provide, that is what you pay. No more and no less. However, the truth is that guidelines are just that, a guideline for the courts to follow when considering an amount to order for child support. If the evidence shows that applying the guidelines is not in the child's best interest and "justifies a variance from the guidelines", the court may either order child support payments higher or lower than the guidelines. In that case, the statute enumerates 17 factors which the court may consider. For example, under these circumstances the court may take into account whether either party has the managing conservatorship or actual physical custody of another child and/or debts assumed by either party. In addition, the court may order additional amounts as support to reimburse another spouse, such as for example day care expense. The guidelines are specifically designed to apply to situations in which the obligor's monthly net resources are $6,000.00 or less. Net resources is defined very broadly in the Family Code and determining what your net resources are can be tricky. To read the section on net resources in the Family Code, click here However, in most cases the parties agree to and the courts do apply guidelines, demonstrated by the chart. Click here to view the child support guideline chart